Shuffle

Considering the rapturous response to "The Galway Girl," his 2008 rendition of Steve Earle's semi-autobiographical tale that spent five weeks at number one in his homeland, it's a surprise it's taken this long for Irish troubadour Mundy to commit to a whole album's worth of similar Americana-based covers. Indeed, described as a love letter to his favorite U.S. songwriters, his fifth studio effort, Shuffle, shows that he certainly knows his stuff, with 14 generation-spanning tracks ranging from the early-'30s yodeling blues of Jimmie Rodgers' "Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia" right up to the late-'90s bittersweet alt-country of Paul Westerberg's "It's a Wonderful Lie," while in addition to more familiar numbers from Simon & Garfunkel ("Kathy's Song") and Bob Dylan ("Buckets of Rain"), there are more obscure selections such as the echo-laden melancholy of Sparklehorse's "Painbirds" and the late Warren Zevon's plea to his estranged wife, "Reconsider Me" (which, alongside the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Juanita," also features the enchanting tones of Gemma Hayes). Sticking closely to his chart-toppers formula, Mundy opts to stay faithful to the timeless originals rather than needlessly attempting to modernize them, with only the stripped-back reworking of Neil Young's "Ohio" and a stomping atmospheric blues interpretation of Gillian Welch's "Rock of Ages" bringing something new to the table. But while Shuffle may not be the most radical of covers albums, it's an undeniably heartfelt tribute whose respect and affection for the source material shines through on every track. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi